B.C. weather: Thousands without power after bomb cyclone [Video]

Several thousand British Columbians remain in the dark Wednesday morning after a windstorm known as a bomb cyclone slammed coastal communities.

About 95,000 BC Hydro customers were without electricity as of 6:30 a.m., according to the utility, down from around 270,000 at the peak of the weather event.

The vast majority of remaining outages, about 90,000, are on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, while electricity is out for around 5,000 customers in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast.

Strong winds are expected to continue until later Wednesday, and BC Hydro says it expects further outages on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Wind and rain warnings from Environment Canada remain in place for those regions.

“BC Hydro had all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews working overnight to restore power, and that work will continue today,” the utility wrote in an update.

“Crews are busy replacing power lines, …